ucpediafandomcom-20200213-history
Smith County Poor House
The Smith County Poor House (sometimes called the County House,' Alms House',' '''or' Poor Asylum') was a county-administered institution for the welfare of "the aged, the orphans, the insane, and the paupers" who were unable to provide for themselves. Opening sometime around 1829, it remained in operation in various locations around the county until it closed in 1952, with the advent of Social Security and other programs to assist the needy.Maggart, Sue. W. ''The History of Smith County Tennessee. Dallas, Texas: Curtis Media Corporation, 1987. History In the early days of the county, the Justices of the Peace were responsible for the needy in their own districts, recommending them to the County Court for assistance. In 1829, the Court named a committee of David Hogg, Zachery Ford, Exum Whitley, John Chambers, Littleberry Hughes, William Walker, Solomon Debow, Richard Alexander, and Adam Dale to study the costs of instituting a county poor house. Key Hollow location Sometime after the committee made its report to the County Court, 75 acres of land were purchased from a Mr. Carpenter in Key Hollow, near the Monoville community, on the banks of a creek still bearing the name of Poor House Branch.The Poorhouse Lady. http://www.poorhousestory.com/TN_SMITH_Co.htm"SMITH TENNESSEE POORHOUSE HISTORY". Poorhousehistory.com. n.d. Web. Accessed 12 June 2015. It consisted of a house and a farm, where the residents would work to support themselves. The Court appointed a committee to oversee the enterprise, with one of their member being elected treasurer, and to hire a superintendent. In 1866, Silas M. Phelps was hired as overseer (paid $175 a year), and the next year promoted to superintendent (with a salary raise to $250), a position he would hold for at least two decades.''Goodspeed, History of Tennessee- Sumner, Smith, Macon and Trousdale Counties. ''Unknown publisher, 1887. Horseshoe Bend location Sometime around 1871, the Poor House was relocated to a 211-acre farm (purchased for $1,200), where frame buildings were erected at a cost of $3,500. This farm was quickly deemed both unhealthy and inconvenient to Carthage and other communities, and was sold. Location west of Carthage The third and final home of the Smith County Poor House was a farm about two and a half miles west of Carthage, near the present-day Lebanon Highway. In 1885 a large brick house was built there, "with all modern improvements". It was used until it closed down on January 8, 1952, deemed unnecessary in the wake of Federal and State programs to assist the needy. Saunders F. Hailey and his wife Nannie were the final superintendents of the farm. The brick house burned "a few years" before 1987. Lists of residents All of the following information comes from the Federal Census data from the respective years. 1870 residents 1880 residents Poor House Cemetery A cemetery for the residents of the Poor House farm at Key Hollow did exist, on a hill behind the later site of the Monoville School house, but there are no markers remaining (if there ever were any) at this site. It is unknown if the other two farms had burial grounds, though that seems likely. The following legend is told of the cemetery: :"Gruesome tales are told of 'grave snatchers' who would dig up the corpses and bring them to Carthage where they were sold to some doctor who wished to further his medical education. In one such instance, one of these unscrupulous robbers was enroute to Carthage with the corpse tied behind him on his horse. Upon hearing another rider coming, he rolled the body into the ditch and continued on his way. When the road was clear, he went back and retrieved his burden." References Category:Smith County healthcare Category:Poor Houses Category:Monoville Category:Defunct Smith County institutions